After being promoted on November 11, 2024, Justice Sanjiv Khanna is anticipated to become India's 51st Chief Justice. This appointment will be made in succession to the incumbent Chief Justice, the present one being D.Y. Chandrachud who will have to retire in accordance with the Rules of this Court once he attains the age of sixty-five years.
Justice Khanna is a highly qualified lawyer who was born on the 14th of May in 1960. He enrolled for his advocatship from the Bar Council of Delhi in 1983 and started his career as an advocate in Delhi’s district courts for Tis Hazari complex, Delhi High Court along with different tribunal courts. He was additional judge in Delhi HC in 2005, and in 2006 he joined permanently also, he was appointed in SC in 2019.
Justice Khanna is involved in several similar rulings some of which have been highlighted here. Interestingly, he was part of the bench that validated the use of electric voting machines in elections insisting on their safety and that they would end booth capturing and bogus voting. He also served as the part of the five-surge bench that struck the electoral bond scheme for political party funding as unconstitutional. However, he was also on the bench that sanctioned the revocation of Article 370 that gave special autonomy to Jammu & Kashmir.
Justice Khanna’s term as Chief Justice shall for a litte over six months, and he will retire on the May 13, 2025. His appointment is taken as a perusal of his continued efforts in the fight for the promotion of the rule of law and justice. Of course, legal profession and the whole nation await his leadership in the Supreme Court of India as he takes up this huge task.
Office of the Chief Justice of India
CJI is the most prominent judicial officer of the country who is the highest authority of Supreme Court of India. Right from choosing capable persons to formulating rules and overseeing the working of the judiciary, the CJI has a central position in the discharge of these basic functions of society.
Key Responsibilities
- Judicial Leadership: The Chief Justice manages the operation of the Supreme Court, chairing its sittings and maintaining straightforward order. Since the CJI is the most senior judge, he directs important constitutional benches that determine significant cases affecting the nation’s law.
- Administrative Role: Besides judicial impeachments, the CJI held many administrative powers and responsibilities are bestowed upon him. This embraces assignment of cases for the benches, supervising the court operations, and checking the working of judiciary apparatus.
- Appointments and Transfers: The CJI has responsibility in the recommendation and posting and removal of judges. The CJI leads the collegium which is a panel of the most senior judges in the country and recommends the appointment transfer of judges in both the Supreme Court and the High Courts. This process is intended to uphold the independence and disclose of the judiciary.
- Judicial Reforms: The powers of the Chief Justice also lie at the heart of the driving forces behind and the actual process of reform of judiciary. Some of the measures consist of improving case disposal, providing citizens with an early opportunity to access the justice delivery system, and the general reforms of the Indian judiciary. The chief justice of India is always involved in different matters related to government,lawyers, civil society, and others to solve problems and to bring some necessary reforms.
Appointment Process and Term
Appointment Process
- Constitutional Framework: According to Article 124 of the Constitution, the Chief Justice of India appoints judges to the Supreme Court. The President of India appoints the CJI, as this article describes.
- Seniority Principle: The manner of selecting the CJI is seniority that is widely practiced in India’s judiciary system as it has been earlier pointed out. The most senior judge of the Supreme Court is preferred to become the Chief Justice of India. This convention implies that there will always be consistent, stable and positive regard to judicial experience within the court of last instance.
- Collegium System: The CJI and the four other SC justices who hold the highest seats are appointed under the collegium system, which is the procedure for selecting judges at the highest level. The procedure to appoint the new CJI is when the time comes; the current Chief Justice of India proposes the name of the most senior judge to the holder of the presidential office. A large emphasis is placed on seniority principles and this particular recommendation is normally approved by the President without exception.
Collegium system
The collegium system is one of the significant and innovative systems that are implemented in the Indian judiciary, where it is responsible for appointment and transfer of judges, including Chief Justice of India (CJI). This system helps to achieve the doctrine of separation of powers as well as to avoid the president’s influence in appointment of the judges.
Overview
- Establishment and Evolution: The collegium system is a creation of law by the Supreme Court made through a set of historical judgements called the Judges’ Cases. The 1981 ruling in the First Judges' case gave the executive branch the upper hand when it came to appointing judges. But the Second Judges’ Case 1993 reversed the above and gave paramount importance to judges with implementation of Collegium system. Subsequently, in the Third Judges’ Case, (1998) the understanding about the system was made even clearer strengthening its use in the process of judicial appointments.
- Composition: According to the constitutional framers the collegium is made up of the Chief Justice of India and four other judges who are most senior in the Supreme Court. A recommendation that this body of collective decision making achieves the purpose of appointing judges through consensus and deliberative processes to ensure the independence of the judiciary.
Appointment Process
- Seniority Principle: Concerning the selection of the Chief Justice of India, the principle followed is seniority. The chief justice of India is normally the most senior judge of the supreme court of India. This convention provides stability, continuity, which also maintains recognition of judicial experience in the Supreme Court.
- Recommendation Process: This means that if the incumbent CJI is about to retire, the collegium recommends the most senior of them as the replacement. At end the present Chief Justice of India at that time writes a letter to the government proposing the name of the senior-most judge. This recommendation is on the acceptance of the principle of seniority hence is normally accepted by the President of India without an exception.
Presidential Approval: After the receiving the recommendation from the collegium, the President of India formally appoints a recommended judge as the new Chief Justice of India. The CJI is then nominated and unveiled in an announcement while the new CJI swears an oath of office.
Tenure of Chief Justice Of India
- Term Length: The Chief Justice of India does not serve for a certain term but always serves a fixed age limit of retirement. While appointment of the CJI requires the President’s approval, all the provisions relating to the tenure of the CJI are contained in Article 124 of the Constitution; these state that the CJI like all other judges of the Supreme Court must retire upon attaining the age of 65 years. Consequently, the duration of a Chief Justice depends in the number of years one is given to serve depends with the age the person is appointed to that post.
- Retirement Age: The system of making retirement mandatory at 65 means that the leadership of the judiciary undergoes a predictable cycle of change providing an opportunity to infuse new leadership and judicial philosophies into the system. It also keeps of check of the duration of the tenures of judges to avoid concentration of power in the judiciary.
- Succession: The process of succession is seamless due to the principle of seniority. As the CJI approaches retirement, the collegium recommends the senior-most judge as the successor, ensuring a smooth transition of judicial leadership.
Significance
The post of the chief justice of India is a hugely important one in the nation’s legal and constitutional set-up. CJI is a head both of the apex court and constitutional defender for the principles of justice, equality, and the rule of law. Due to its influence over the legal and social structure of the country this particular post of CJI is a fundamental to the functioning of the Indian democracy.
Duties of the Chief Justice Of India
The CJI is an official of huge prerogative and accountability within the judicial arrangement of India. In its broadest sense, the CJI is key in running the court, defending the judiciary and guaranteeing the delivery of justice for the people of India. Here are the key responsibilities of the Chief Justice of India:
Judicial Leadership
1. Presiding Over the Supreme Court: Among the Constitutional positions the CJI is designated with the responsibility of chairing Supreme Court sessions. This includes leading the court in discussions, meetings, deliberations and making of decisions. CJI is responsible for the control of the proceedings, it happens that they are reasonable, rational and as per legal provisions.
2. Constitutional Benches: The CJI normally presides over benches that handle matters of constitutional importance. These benches make decisions which are on issues of national concern like the Constitution, human rights and even laws. These are the legal ground in the country set by the chief justice in the respective cases.
Administrative
3. Allocation of Cases: Another of the most important governance roles of the CJI is to assign cases to different divisions of the Supreme Court of India. This entails mapping of the sociology of the judiciary, so that cases are posted before benches that best suit the judges’ experience and interest.
4. Judicial Appointments and Transfers: The CJI leads the collegium made up of the most senior judges who is tasked with appointing and posting judges at both the apex court and the high courts. It is of utmost importance to say this process is designed to protect the principle of judicial independence and the competence of the judges by providing complete transparency of the appointment process.
Judicial Reforms and Policy
5. Initiating Reforms: The CJI is responsible for advice, administration, supervision and management on all matters concerning the restructuring, modernization and improvement of the effectiveness of the courts. This includes steps to address delay in delivery of justice, enhancing the courts’ physical facilities and embracing use of technology in courts.
6. Public Interest Litigation (PIL): CJI has the power to permit and even hear the PIL matters which are cases pursued for the interest of the general public by the public. PILs cover various subjects: preservation of the environment, the plight of refugees, literate’s rights, etc., and decisions that the CJI has made in these cases carry large social consequences.
Representational
7. Representing the Judiciary: The CJI stands for Indian judiciary on many occasions both national and international. This encompasses interaction with other arms of government, the legal fraternities, and other, international judiciaries. It means that CJI has a significant role in these interactions with other branches of government to protect independence of judiciary system.
8. Addressing the Bar and Public: The incumbent of this position uses speeches, for instance, to make known his or her stand on some issues concerning the judiciary and the society at large. It is these addresses which goes a long way in creating confidence and knowledge of the legal system and hence legal tone’s responsibilities.